LPSDO is Up in Smoke
By: Mr. Wilson on
May 31, 2011
The local Tea Party's prayers were answered yet again. Not long after a local porn shop went up in flames, Lincoln Public Schools District Offices followed suit. Area libraries and public health centers better check their insurance policies.
In all seriousness, the loss of LPSDO is a Very Bad Thing™. No backup plan can account for the loss of an entire administrative facility. And even if there were some sort of magical plan to mitigate a disaster of these proportions, no plan ever proceeds flawlessly. Poor Superintendent Joel is going to earn every penny of his paycheck in 2011. And 2012. And then some.
While browsing news of the fire one question leapt out at me: why did the building that houses LPS's most valuable non-human assets -- data -- not have a fire suppression system? That's not an accusation, mind you, nor is it rhetorical. It seems like a pretty big oversight, but it's such a substantial oversight I can't help but think it was deliberate.
It's going to take a long, long time for this loss to fully sink in. There will be good news ("the computer backups worked!") and bad news ("...but the last update was three years ago"). My one suggestion for LPS is to be very upfront and honest about everything. They could, for example, start a blog and give a small team of people free reign to publish updates on ... well ... everything. I know I for one would appreciate that.
And by the way, I'm going to stop commenting on the status of buildings. Yesterday afternoon as I drove down O Street I commented to The Missus that LPSDO was a pretty bleh building. Fewer than twelve hours later ... poof. But my record isn't all bad. Several weeks back I commented on the former Homer's building right next door to LPSDO, and the next day it was announced that the building would receive a full remodel.